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Northern Powerhouse can help drive Welsh development says minister

North Wales has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capitalise on the Northern Powerhouse and drive fresh wave of investment and opportunity across the region, the Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb will say today.

In a speech to the Institute of Directors he will also make the case for devolution within Wales to equip North Wales with the tools and levers it needs to unlock the economic potential of the Northern Powerhouse.

The Secretary of State will say that business leaders should be in the driving seat to ensure North Wales reaps the benefits of the Northern Powerhouse.

“In North Wales, we have always looked east to Liverpool and Manchester for economic growth as much as we look south to Cardiff and Swansea. The Northern Powerhouse represents our best chance to bring transformational change to North Wales.

“But in the same way that the UK government has had the confidence to devolve powers from the centre down to Manchester, we need to see the same confidence in North Wales from politicians in Cardiff," he will say.

"I want to see a strong alliance between the business community in North Wales and their partners. It is their role to hold the feet of both the UK and Welsh Government to the fire so this part of the country can secure the world class infrastructure it deserves.”

“In North Wales, we have always looked east to Liverpool and Manchester for economic growth as much as we look south to Cardiff and Swansea. The Northern Powerhouse represents our best chance to bring transformational change to North Wales" - Stephen Crabb

Crabb’s speech follows the announcement last week of a new initiative to enable the construction sector to take advantage of economic development in the whole of Wales.

Minister for finance and government in the Welsh government Jane Hutt announced the creation of a Wales Infrastructure Construction Industry Forum to bring together all sections of the industry and government to help coordinate delivery of the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan.  

She was speaking at the Infrastructure Investment and Delivery in Wales Conference last week organised by Constructing Excellence in Wales with the support of ACE Cymru  CECA Wales and ICE Wales, chaired by ACE Cymru chair Geoff Ogden.

The conference was focused on the long term planning needs for infrastructure delivery in Wales and built on industry’s engagement with Welsh Government. The sector is working to ensure that Wales can gain a competitive economic advantage from major project delivery and continued development of the Welsh Government’s vision for the nation’s infrastructure and long-term planning 

The ACE Cymru Wales regional group welcomed the announcement because such engagement will help the Welsh Construction Industry and Welsh Government maximise value for money and strategic planning.

Echoing this view, Milica Kitson, chief executive of Constructing Excellence in Wales,  stated: “Jane Hutt’s support for the creation of a Wales Infrastructure Forum will be the conduit for dialogue and partnership between industry and Government. This will help make sure the right infrastructure decisions and processes are agreed to maximise our chances of allowing Welsh construction to build the infrastructure required to boost the nation’s economic growth and create an opportunity for our industry to deliver landmark world class engineering and construction schemes.

“The next step is to collate all of the feedback from our conference and engage with all of the stakeholders including ACE, ICE and CECA and the broader construction industry. This will help us shape the framework for the new Forum that we hope will begin its work in early 2016.”

 

If you would like to contact Jackie Whitelaw about this, or any other story, please email jackie.whitelaw@infrastructure-intelligence.com.